Together in Mission 2017 Direct Mail

Dear …

Earlier this year, Pope Francis gave us a great gift in canonizing Mother Teresa of Kolkata as a saint.

St. Mother Teresa has always been an inspiration to me in my spiritual life and in my ministry of service.

In one of her letters, Mother Teresa said that Jesus Christ had come to her in her prayer and had asked her, “Come, be My light.” And so she gave up her privileged position and all her possessions to live as one of the world’s poor and forgotten and to bring them the light of Christ and the love of God.

I was reflecting on this as I considered the theme for this year’s Together in Mission campaign, “Be the Light of Christ.”

And I was thinking about you — and the many wonderful, generous people like you here in the family of God in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. You really are the light of Christ in our parishes and in our schools. Through your generosity you bring Christ’s light — the signs of his love and his tender mercy — into the lives of our brothers and sisters who are hurting, who are broken, who are in need of healing.

I am truly grateful to you — and I want to thank you on behalf of all those you have helped through your generosity.

I hope you are able again this year to continue your generous contribution to Together in Mission. As you know, this is the one appeal we make each year to help our poorest parishes and schools. So I hope you will prayerfully consider helping us again this year.

Together, we can be the light of Christ that drives out the darkness in peoples’ lives and sets them free to dream of new possibilities for their lives, and the lives of their loved ones. Together, we can touch peoples lives with his light and joy.

So thank you again for everything you are doing to bring the light and love of Christ to others.

Please know that you and your family are in my prayers, and I hope that you will pray for me in my ministry.

May Our Blessed Mother watch over you in her tender love, and may our good God grant you peace and joy.

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles